Walter litft



(No Model.)

w. LUFT. DRESS FASTENER FOR CLOSING LADIES DRESSES.

No. 567,348. Patented Sept. 8, 1896.

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WALTER LUFT, OF BARMEN, GERMANY.

DRESS-FASTENERFOR CLOSING LADIES DRESSES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 567,348, dated September 8, 1896. Application filed February 4, 1896. Serial No. 578,024. (No model.) Patented in England October 9, 1895, No. 18,930-

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, l/VALTER LUFT, a subjec of His Majesty the Emperor of Germany, residing at Barmen, Heckinghauserstrasse, Germany, have invented a new and useful Dress- Fastener for Closing Ladies Dresses, (for which I have obtained a patent in Great Britain, No. 18,930, bearing date October 9, 18 95,) of which thefollowing is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in dress-fasteners for closing ladies dresses, the peculiarity of which dress-fasteners consists in the new shape of the hooks and eyes used therein and in the manner of fixing the same without holding the same by sewing or riveting to the covering double strip or hollow ribbon, which may be fitted with an elastic strip of whalebone or spring-steel, as may be desired, means for inserting such an elastic strip being provided.

The objects of the invention are to make the dress-fastener as light as possible and to have all the metal parts which must not necessarily come to the outside inclosed within the covering ribbon or the double-laid piece of woven fabric. I attain these objects by using peouliarly-shaped hooks and eyes and by fixing the same to the textile strip, as described hereinafter and shown in the accompanying drawings, in which- 4 Figurel is a front view of a pair of fasteners, partly locked and partly undone, the hooks and eyes in the lower part uncovered. Fig. 2 is a back View of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a side View, partly in section, along line II II of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 shows part of a dress-fastener in which a hollow woven ribbon is used, on

vthe left side with the hooks and eyes in place,

on the right side with the hooks and eyes inserted in the hollow ribbon, but not yet shifted through the slits; Fig. 5, a cross-section along line III III of Fig. 5, on an enlarged scale. Fig. 6 shows part of a complete dress-fastener in a locked state. Fig. 7 is a cross-section of Fig. 1, on an enlarged scale. Fig. 8 shows the new-shaped hook separately. Fig. 9 shows the new-shaped eye separately.

In my new dress-fastener I use hooks A and eyes B, the eyelets O of which are of different shape from those usually employed in such hooks and eyes. Instead of being round and only of such size as to give sufficient room for convenient fixing by sewing, the

eyelets O in my new hooks and eyes are of rectangular or oblong shape and considerably larger than usual. They are not intended toserve as a fastening means bysewing, but to give a long bearing-surface, as will be hereinafter explained. A strip of 'double folded cloth F is sewed together along line F F to form a hollow part, into which may be inserted a thin elastic strip G, of whalebone, spring-steel, or the like, either for the whole length or only part of it, as'shown in Figs. 1 and 2. Along the seam F from distance to distance small slits H and I are made into the upper part of the double-folded stuff,

wide enough to allow the passage of the eyes B or the hooks A, respectively, and these are then inserted and pushed through these slits with their hook or eye part, respectively, so far that the adjacent sides of the rectangular eyelets bear closely against the seam F. All the hooks and eyes having thus been put in place, both flaps of the double-laid stuff are again sewed together along line K K, close behind the outer edge of the oblong eyelets of the hooks and eyes, and to complete the dress-fastener a further seam may be sewed near the edge along line L L. According to this manner of fixing, the hooks and eyes are held firmly in their place and cannot shift in any way. The long sides of the rectangular eyelets bearing against a number of threads of the fabric in a comparatively long line or surface on both seams Fand K cannot be torn off in the usual direction in which the tension is exerted upon the hooks and eyes, and since the hook part, as Well as the eye part, fits closely and snugly into the slits H or I they also cannot shift lengthwise with- 'out requiring fixing by special sewing,v All the parts are covered and inclosed between the hose-like or double-folded stuif, with the exception of so much of the eyes and of the hooks as is required for conveniently closing the same.

It is clear that it does not make any difference whether the hose part is made by sewing a double-folded piece of cloth together or whether a ready-woven hollow or hose-like ribbon is used, into which the hooks and eyes are inserted so that they are held therein in the same way as described above by an extra instead of the double-laid cloth. A hollow) woven ribbon E is divided in two parts by a longitudinal .seam F being either directly woven in the ribbon or made by sewing. Into thevouter hollow part an .elastic strip Grj may be inserted, as before, or not. Small slits H I are made along the seam F. The hooks and eyes are then inserted into the broad hollow part of the ribbon, as shown on the right side of Fig. 4, and they are pushed through the slits I H to take the position shown von the left side in Fig. 4.. Then a seam K is sewed along the respective edges of the hooks and eyes-and the dress-fastener; is herewith completed, as in the first case.

Elastic strips G may be inserted into the narrow hollow part or not, as desired.

I am aware that prior to" my invention dress-fasteners in which hooks and eyes are .fitted to a strip of cloth combined with an elastic strip have been formerly known. I

therefore do not claim such dress-fasteners broadly; but

What I do claim as myinvention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

In dress-fasteners, a strip of woven matetial folded lengthwise and stitched so as to contain two parallel passages, the outer passage provided with a strip of flexible material and the inner passage provided with a series of slits, and hooks and eyes, secured within said passage and slits in such manner that the passage containing the flexible strip shall overlap the locking ends of the hooks and eyes, substantially as set forth.

WALTER LU FT.

Witnesses:

EMIL Hnss, L. Rovre. 

